


The Trouble with Expectations

by Samwritess



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fic is Medicine, Fluff, Tumblr Prompt, UST, mulder isn't at the airport to pick scully up, xfficchallenges
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 02:17:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18420786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samwritess/pseuds/Samwritess
Summary: Prompt: Scully realizes the depth of her feelings for Mulder when she expects him to pick her up at the airport and he doesn’t show.She honestly doesn’t know what she expected.No, she expected him there. He was supposed to come pick her up, sweep her up off her feet and carry her home, or at least carry her bag. But he wasn’t there. She scanned the waiting area three times at least, looking for his tall stature and goofy smile.Where was he?





	1. The Airport

She honestly doesn’t know what she expected.

No, she expected him there. He was supposed to come pick her up, sweep her up off her feet and carry her home, or at least carry her bag. But he wasn’t there. She scanned the waiting area three times at least, looking for his tall stature and goofy smile.

_Where was he?_

Had she forgotten to call? No, she had made sure to leave him a voicemail. Two, actually. One saying that she had gotten on the airport and one saying she was on the plane and would be home in 2 hours. Why didn’t he answer her?

_Why does she even care?_

It’s not like he’s her boyfriend. It’s not like he has any obligation to pick her up. It’s just that he’d always done so. Whenever she had late flights like this, he’d just… picked her up. Like there was nothing to it. The first one she hadn’t even had to ask. She had mentioned offhand on the phone that she had a late flight and was coming in around 1 am. When she got off the plane, he was there waiting for her.

_You can’t expect me to let you catch a cab at this hour Scully. You could fall asleep and end up in some back ally somewhere. You never know the kind of vagrants that walk the streets at 1 am_

_And what about you Mulder? How do I know you’re not going to take me into an ally somewhere?_

_Because Scully, I… am not a vagrant. I know how to treat my women._

She had fallen asleep in the car on the ride home, and he had practically carried her upstairs to her room. He had done it again and again, every time she’d come home, even during the day, he had been there. And now here she was, at 12 am and she seemed to be the only one without someone to pick her up.

_Does she miss him?_

She couldn’t possibly. She would just catch a cab, lug her own bags and go home. She’d call him the next day. Wonder where he was and then pretend, she wasn’t bothered when he inevitably apologized. He would see her at work the next day with her regular coffee order and they would pretend nothing is wrong.

_But was there even anything wrong?_

Yes. Something was wrong.  He was supposed to be here. He was supposed to be carrying her bags to his car and making stupid jokes to cheer her up and asking her if she knows any good places to eat at 1 in the morning but god dammit, he wasn’t here, why wasn’t he here?

She was mad. Mad at him for abandoning her like this, for making her take a cab home, for everything he’d done to her. He was the one that was supposed to look after her, to care for her, to make sure she was never alone and he _promised._ He promised he’d keep her safe and he couldn’t even show up to the god damn airport to pick her up. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she’d been misjudging this relationship… this _arrangement_. What if he thought someone else would just come get her if he didn’t come? What if he didn’t care?

_Why was this making her so upset?_

She knew why. She knew as she wiped the tears from her eyes before they could fall and grabbed the handle of her bag to prepare to lug that and her even heavier suitcase out the door to the taxi waiting area. She jumped when she felt two hands on her shoulders, spinning around with a fist ready to attack when she stopped.

“Jesus Scully you wouldn’t hit your ride home, would you?”

She breathed a sigh of relief, registering the face of her partner, the one she had just been so upset with seconds ago. She followed through with the fist, aiming for the shoulder instead of his face.

“Where in the _hell_ where you?”

He winced, rubbing his shoulder and backing up slowly.

“I went to the bathroom, I though your flight was getting in in ten minutes.”

He rolled his shoulder and finally looked at her face, registering the tear streaks and her flushed complexion. “Scully what’s wrong?” He stepped closer to her attempting to grab her hand, but she pulled away.

“I thought… you … I thought you didn’t show” she whispered. She didn’t know why but couldn’t stop the tear from falling down her cheek.

“Scully of course I showed. Why did you think I hadn’t?” She didn’t answer. Just let more tears fall. He grabbed for her hand again, and she let him. “Scully I’ll always come get you”

She didn’t answer. Just lunged forward and grabbed his face and kissed him as hard as she could. He was shocked. So shocked he didn’t move for seconds, hands still outstretched and eyes wide open before he registered what had happened. She pulled back, releasing his face and turning to grab her bag and striding off in the direction of the parking exit. He didn’t move for another few seconds until he came out of the shock, grabbed her other bag and ran after her. Neither of them chose to comment on the small smile lingering on her face when he caught up with her.


	2. The Aftermath

He knew they had to talk about it. The had been on the road for 20 minutes and usually she would be passed out by now, head lolling with the turns of the highway, drooling as adorably as one could. But she was sitting upright, staring straight at the road ahead, smile still ghosting her lips. It looked like she was vibrating, she was so charged up. He continued to steal glances at her, hoping one of the times she would be looking back, but she just stared ahead, almost in a trance.

“Scully?” She jolted, finally turning to look at him.

“Hmm?”

“Do you wanna talk about it”

“Talk about what?”

“ _Scully”_

She knew. Its all she’d been thinking about since she left the airport. How she realized how much she cared about him she couldn’t help but kiss him. How he tasted, even when he wasn’t trying, how he was the best pair of lips she’d ever kissed. She touched her lips just thinking about it. He noticed.

“Mulder you’re going to have to be specific”

He was angry until he turned to look at her, seeing that small smile grow as she continued to pretend. She was playing with him. It turned him on to no end.

“Scully you know exactly what I’m talking about”

It was on.

“No Mulder, I’m afraid I don’t, you’re going to have to give me some more information”

“Scully … you can’t possibly tell me we’re not thinking the same thing”

“What are you thinking about Mulder?”

She turned to him then, and he managed to catch her gaze with eyes still on the road. Her eyes were sparkling, excited, enthralled by him. She tried to bite her lip to hide her smile.

_Fuck._

“What you … did to me”

“I really am sorry about your shoulder Mulder”

He spotted her apartment, pulling into the parking garage, probably faster than he should have.

“Not my arm Scully”

He parked, neither of them moving. He looked at her. She looked at him. Pins could have dropped, but neither of them would have cared.

A hushed whisper. “You kissed me”.

“I did”

“Why”

“I think you know”

He laughed. “You couldn’t have wanted a ride home that badly.” Always one to tease. Joking is easier than seriousness, especially when it came to this.

“No. I was just happy to see you”

The seriousness was back. She was staring at his lips again, but he couldn’t have known as he was too preoccupied with hers.

“Besides it’s not like you kissed me back”

It was a dare, a challenge of sorts _. How would you have kissed me back? Show me._

He leaned in towards her, stretching over the center console until his seat belt resisted him. He unbuckled it. Inches separated them.

“Did you want me to?”

The smile on her lips was back. It was all the confirmation he needed.

It was awkward and toothy, and her seatbelt got in the way but it was the best damn kiss she’d had in her entire life. She had thought his lips couldn’t get any better, but with them molded around her own she knew that she had found perfection. He alternated between soft and sweet and hard and sloppy. She found herself unbuckling, pushing him back and following him over into the driver’s seat, straddling his lap and kissing him like her life depended on it.

A pin dropped. Well, not a pin, but the sound of the car horn blaring as her ass contacted the steering wheel. She jumped, as well as she could jump sitting on his lab in the cramped front seat. He groaned.

Silence except for their heated breath filled the car.

“Scully I…” he trailed off. She leaned forward so they were forehead to forehead. Maybe the contact would transfer all the thoughts in her head to his, sparing her from attempting to explain. From committing to the scariest most wonderful thing she had ever wanted.

The only thing transferred was sweat.

“Mulder I should go”

He gripped her hips harder, willing her to stay. _She has to stay._ He would have sat in that car with her for the rest of his life if it meant that she would say out loud what they were both thinking. What he knew with every fiber of his being since the day he met her, but what he promised himself he wouldn’t say until he was ready.

_“Mulder”_

It wasn’t the time. They both knew it.

_Goddamnit he wished it was time._

He let go of her. She opened the door slowly, pulling herself off of him and out of the car.

“I’m sorry”

“I know”

“Tomorrow?”

“Skinny white latte will be arriving at 7:30”

“Thank you”

“Goodnight Scully”

“Goodnight Mulder”

He’ll buy her a chocolate croissant because he knows they’re her favorite and he’ll make a fuss until she eats it. They’ll pretend it didn’t happen, nothing but lingering smiles to remind them of progress. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hello yes my apologies for writing this NONSENSE I was feeling very sad but its to be continued so im gonna fix it I promise please don't be mad a t me ok thanks ily


	3. The Final Piece

Its been a few weeks since the incident. That’s what she’d been calling it at least. The momentary lapse of judgement fueled by a significant lack of sleep. That’s all it was. It wasn’t the only thing she’d been thinking about since it happened. It certainly wasn’t what she was thinking of right now as she stared out the window of Mulder’s car as they drove back to her apartment. They just got back from University of Maryland, her alma mater, a wonderfully distracting throwback to nights full of beer and math equations and thesis writing. They investigated a cult of teenage girls dedicated to eradicating men that had wronged them and other women. They had killed six of their classmates before the FBI got involved, and Scully and Mulder had spent hours in tiny dorm rooms and dusty classrooms figuring out the case. Now here she was, full of nostalgia for her college days and in the same situation she found herself a few weeks ago.

Her eyes were stuck staring at Mulder, watching how the street lights lit up slivers of his face as he drove through the city. His entire face was never lit, only blocked in various glowing colors, his tired eyes framed by a green light, his lips flushed pink by a neon sign.

_She really needed to stop staring at his lips_

Instead she chose to turn and focus on the blurring lights outside her window.  Her eyes dropped, blurring the lights even more until they were dancing behind her eyelids as she succumbed to the sleep she so desperately needed. She didn’t wake up until she felt a brush of a finger against her cheek.

“Scully we’re back at your apartment”

She awoke with a start, banging her head against the window slightly as she woke, her eyes adjusting to the bright fluorescents of the parking garage. With a grunt she turned to Mulder, only to see him looking back at her like he did that one night. It was eerily similar, staring back into his tired eyes like she did those weeks ago, full of something deeper than desperation. She started to grab her things, reaching for her purse but stopped when Mulder’s hand wrapped around her wrist. When she looked at him, even he seemed surprised at his actions.

“Um, goodnight Scully” he said, probably taking her wide eyes as a complete rejection, pulling his hand back like she was made of hot coals.  

_Maybe now is the time._

Scully used to be a risk taker, a rebel. She used to drink in dorm rooms and smoke in cars outside of house parties. She used to invite boys whose names she barely remembered back to her room late at night. She never used to be afraid of things like this. No, college age Dana Scully would have finished what she started those weeks ago. She would have done all the things present day Scully never would have dreamed of doing.

_Remember Dana, actions have consequences. People get hurt. You learned this the hard way._

Of course, she knows this. But God, its Mulder. Its her Mulder, the one who is always there for her, knows everything about her, would do anything for her. If she used to do this with strangers, why couldn’t she do this with him?

_You know why._

Yes. It terrified her. Fear, however, had become a good portion of her motivation recently. Her deep breath filled the void of silence that had occupied the car.

“Mulder, do you want to come up? We can have a drink. Finish the reports.”

Her shocked expression now plastered itself to his face, as he dumbly nodded. She basically jumped out of the car, not waiting to see if he’d follow her before she reached the door to the stairwell.

He did.

They made their ways up the stairs in silence. She unlocked her door, stepping inside with him on her heels. She walked around flicking on lights, basking the apartment in a dull yellow glow. Mulder remained at the door, shuffling his feet and gazing slowly around the room.

“You can sit Mulder. I’ll grab us beer”

He moved to the couch only when she motioned to it. Scully ran to the fridge, grabbing to beers out of a six pack, the quickly thrust one into Mulder’s hand and sat next to him. She was painfully aware of how close they were. Silence still reigned, and Scully couldn’t bring herself to break it. She felt like she had at her first party, awkward and silent, unsure of what to do with her hands. She chose to take a large swig of her beer.

“What were you like in college Scully?” She could swear he reads her mind.

“Oh, you know. I was your typical teenager. School was always important, but I had my fun” She played with the cap of her beer as she sipped it. He was nursing his as well. Perhaps it was because if they were drinking, the silence was excusable. He let out a soft chuckle at her answer.

“I, for some reason, can only imagine you curled up in the library late at night” She laughed. Of course, he couldn’t imagine her being any fun. When had she ever done anything fun with him that might indicate otherwise?

_You did shove your tongue down his throat two weeks ago in a car while parked in a well-lit public parking deck._

“I partied. Not so much towards my later years but certainly when I was younger. I was a bit of a rebel. I’m surprised you and your profiling skilled couldn’t guess. Its kind of the typical case” At this he raised an eyebrow, sipping his beer as an invitation to elaborate. “Well being brought up in a strict Catholic household, the only alcohol I ever tasted was church wine. Bill was as straight laced as they come, and my parents always expected me to act the same. When college hit, I took the time to experiment”

Mulder laughed again, harder this time and she chuckled with him.

“I just assumed little Dana would have been all about the studies and less about the boys and booze” She snorted then, remembering the number of boys there really were. She had had maybe four sips of beer and already she was feeling looser. She liked making him laugh at her college stories. She liked his laugh.

“I guess you don’t know everything about me Mulder. Sometimes it was ladies and booze” He almost spit out his drink and it was her turn to laugh at him.

“Scully you never cease to surprise me” They were smiling now. The tense air seemed to evaporate between them, the familiar comfort of friendship wrapping back around them like a warm blanket.

“I guess I’ve changed a lot since then” She whispered.

“Maybe you’ve just grown. I never really think we outgrow our rebellious phases, simply repress them as we transition to adulthood. They never truly leave us.”

Mulder was staring at her again. Analyzing her like one of his casefiles, studying her until he found the answer. To him, Dana Scully had become the greatest puzzle of them all, and he would spend all his time trying to decipher her if he could. He thought he was close, _so tantalizingly close_ , when she kissed him. He was ready to unlock the mysteries of the universe holding her to his chest, but she pulled back. She wasn’t ready. He understood. Honestly, he didn’t know if he was either but damn it, he waited this long and he’d wait a million years more for her, to unlock that final piece of her. And now, here he could feel her leaning into to him, looking into his eyes, searching him as well.

She wanted so desperately for him to make the move. When she was young, she always let men make the first move. She would flirt and flatter and leave lingering touches, but Dana Scully never kissed first. It felt nice to be wanted, like she was irresistible to them. But these men were not Mulder. Mulder was going to make her do it. She could practically hear him saying “ _It’s your move Scully”_. He had always pushed her out of every comfort zone she had ever established. Even now, when she could see the want in his eyes, flickering in the lamplight, he was going to wait for her.

_He would always wait for her._

Scully set her beer down and turned her body to face him.

“I don’t think I like the rebel in me”

“Why?”

“People get hurt when rebellious decisions are made” Mulder mimicked her seating, turning so they were face to face.

“Not always”

“But they can. Especially when… the person making the decision… cares … a lot… about the other person”

“I don’t think anyone is going to get hurt Scully” He reached out a hand and placed it on her thigh. She winced at the gentleness of it.

_It was a gesture of love._

“Someone always gets hurt. It’s the rules of rebellion. You hurt the ones you love” She joked, then tensed.

_Shit._

She started to stammer, recover, something anything, but he stopped her with a hand on her cheek, drawing her eyes to look into his.

“Scully” She was shaking. This was different than those weeks ago. This was so much more real. This was an awakening, a truth known to the universe finally being spoken into existence. This was the final puzzle piece, the moment you step back and see the whole picture for the first time.

“Dana” he whispered. It took her breath away, the way he said her name like you would say a prayer.

“I love you” It slipped off her tongue like she’d been saying it for a hundred years. Like it hadn’t taken them so long to get to this point, so much pain and longing, lonely nights spent thinking of the other, days full of carefully calculated glances and touches so subtle only they would have ever noticed.

He breathed a sigh of relief onto her lips as he pulled her to him. She tasted like beer and salt and he realized she was crying. He moved his lips to her cheek, kissing away tears off her freckled skin. He kissed her nose, her eyes, across her eyebrows, finally resting wet lips on her forehead. She was still shaking, and he pulled her small frame to his chest. He swore to every god he could think of that he would never let her go.

“Scully, I have loved you since the day you walked into my office. You make me crazy. You’re the most beautiful, frustrating, wonderful thing to ever walk into my life. You are my everything Scully, and I would give up everything to have you.” He pressed a dozen kisses to her hairline, holding her tighter with every word he spoke. She clung to him desperately. Of course, he was her everything. His arms around her felt like home, she had never felt safer than she did while pressed to his chest. He soothed her, stroking her hair, mumbling words into the crown of her head.

_It’s ok baby, it’s all ok. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere._

She let her breathing align with his. Eyes closed, she inhaled the smell of him, wanting to never forget every detail of how it felt to be held by him. She would have never moved, never dared get up for fear that she would never get to lay like this again.

“Scully its late, we should go to bed” She looked up at him, puffy eyes wide and hopeful.

“Will you stay?” She whispered. It was a way out, a last resort. If he didn’t want this, he could walk out the door he came in, and they would go back to pretending. She didn’t know if she could and God would it hurt but she would do it for him if he asked. She would do anything for him.

He smiled, brushing her hair off her forehead, kissing the spot his fingers cleared.

“Of course”

They got up together, hands intertwining, never fully separating. It was like a tether, holding her, tying her to him. He was afraid if he let go, she would slip away, and he would wake up in his own bed, like it was only a dream. But she led him into the room, laughing when he sat on the bed and tried to pull her down with him.

“I have to change” she giggled as he grabbed her and pulled her between his legs, wrapping his arms around her hips. Sitting on the bed his nose lined up with her chest, and he leaned forward to press a kiss to her sternum, nuzzling her chest, dropping his hands slightly lower to grace the upper curve of her ass. She hummed but stepped back, instead leaning down to leave a lingering kiss on his lips.

“Tomorrow”

She grabbed a t shirt and shorts, running into the bathroom to quickly change. She discarded her work clothes, bra included, and walked back out to join Mulder in the bedroom. She found him already under the covers, a pile of his own discarded clothing on the floor. She raised an eyebrow. He responded by raising the bedsheets so she could slip into his arms. She did just that. He left his boxers on, but the rest of his body was warm skin, all hers to touch, to explore, _to love_. He wrapped his arms around her, they both sighed, their smiles proud and unhidden. He kissed the corner of her lips one last time before settling down behind her.

“Goodnight Scully”

“Goodnight Mulder”

Sleep took her quicker than it ever had. She dreamed of tomorrow, and all the tomorrows they would have together. She woke in his arms, and she had never been happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has loved an supported this story, you guys are the best! Hope you enjoy this happy ending!


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